International students left with the short stick of cut-rate COVID emergency benefit
Written by: Lahari Nanda
The $1250 Canadian Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) is not applicable to the hundreds of thousands of international students in Canada.
The CESB provides students with $1250 every month and $1750 to students with disabilities and those with dependents.
Office of Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough announced that CESB funds are only available to Canadians studying in Canada and abroad.
International students are only eligible to apply for the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit, if they have earned at least $5000 in 2019 or in the 12-month period immediately prior to the date of application.
Helen Mathew, a second year Cognitive Science student at Carleton University said, “I think it’s cool of them to include international [students] in this case [CERB] unlike the other one [CESB].”
The CERB grants a maximum of $2000 per month to students, paid over a 4-week or 2-week period from Service Canada and from the Canadian Revenue Agency respectively. A maximum of $500 is payable every week.
This disadvantages international students who haven’t worked in the past 12 months or haven’t earned up to $5000. Even for those who are eligible for CERB, the payment of $500 per week may not be enough to cover student loan payments, rent, groceries and utility bills, according to The Pie News.
Sarom Rho is the coordinator of the Migrant Students United campaign at the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change. She said that she’s needed to direct numerous international students towards food banks, so they can continue to get food beyond what they can afford with the CERB.
As well, the temporary doubling of the 20 hour weekly work limit, to 40 hours per week for international students, is only applicable to frontline workers.
The creation of 76,000 new jobs promised by Prime Minister Trudeau will force many international students to work in essential services in order to earn their wages, according to Narcity.
International students who work in the summer in between academic years to fund their education and have lost many job opportunities. These students will therefore face the additional challenge of funding their education in the fall semester.
Wesam AbdElhamid Mohamed, international students’ representative at the Canadian Federation of Students, said international students contribute “billions of dollars” to the Canadian economy.
Ideally, international students should be eligible for the same benefits as Canadian students or even more benefits if they are stranded in Canada without a guaranteed home and income after the academic year ends due to international travel restrictions.
Mathew said, “But then again it’s [CESB] from the Canadian government and we’re not Canadian so I guess I see where they’re coming from.”
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